Adoption of Production Tools in Agro-allied Artisanal Metal Fabrication in Southwestern Nigeria: Implications for Access to an Essential Tools Infrastructure
Year: 2024
Type: article
Abstract: The local production of industrial machinery is vital for industrialization and a diversified economy. The artisanal metal fabrication sector in Nigeria significantly contributes machinery for small-scale value-added activities in food processing. However, many of these machines appear crude and inefficient. Access to modern tools is essential for creating complex and precise machinery. This study, conducted among 326 agro-allied metal fabricators in Southwestern Nigeria, examined the use and factors influencing the access to tools during the production and finishing stages of machine fabrication to inform public mechanisms that may enable artisans more access to essential tools. Results revealed that 98.8%, 99.4%, 99.4%, 98.2%, 85.3%, and 67.3% of the artisans own essential tools for welding, cutting, grinding, drilling, bending, and folding metal, respectively. However, milling, tapping, and notching machines are often unavailable, forcing 88.3%, 96.0%, and 100% of the artisans, respectively, to seek the use of these tools where available. Only 1.2% of artisans have a foundry on-site, while 12% possess lathe machines. In the finishing processes, access to tools for hot blackening, anodizing, galvanizing, and sandblasting is severely limited, with only 3.7%, 0.6%, 6.7% and 1.2%, respectively, having access to these tools. These limitations contribute to the crude appearance of the machines. The adoption of tools such as the tapping machine is positively and significantly influenced by age (r = .18; p < .05), experience in years (r = .11; p < .05), number of machines fabricated per annum (r = .12; p < .05) and total initial capital investment (r = .26; p < .05) among others. These results indicate that costs, the complexity of use of machines and socio-demographic characteristics of the fabricators significantly affect tool accessibility. These findings highlight the urgent need and areas for intervention in tool infrastructure to support the growth of Nigeria's artisanal metal fabrication industry.
Source: Ife Journal of Technology
Authors: Oladele, Waheed, Adejuwon, Olawale
Language: English
Subfield: Economics and Econometrics
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W7082642155
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